Posts Tagged ‘NYC’

“For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.” – Robert Louis Stevenson

I love to travel and experience new cultures. For that reason, I took a day trip to New York for a mini vacation. My purpose in going was to visit all the places I didn’t get a chance to visit during new years. With that being said, I still didn’t get a chance to visit all the places I wanted to. Regardless, I had a wonderful time and I plan on going back soon to finish my list. Below are a few pictures I took while I was there.

Before I went to the Brooklyn bridge I stopped by Duke’s cafe located in Soho no too far from H&M.

I came across “the Holstee Manifesto” on Facebook from Xan Pearson, a social media contemporary of mine from Chicago, who shared it on her Facebook Timeline. As I read and re-read it, I came to realize how much parts of the manifesto alone would benefit my friends and family as well as myself, since we have our own struggles in life and we are working through them at different rates. The next morning, I also realized that this manifesto should be read from beginning to end, regardless of our current life situation, since other parts of the prose may direct us to take our lives in a very different, more positive direction. Who knows in what new direction we take our lives after reading the manifesto over and over?

[T]he first thing Holstee’s three founders – Mike, Fabian and Dave – did was sit together on the steps of Union Square and write down exactly what was on their minds and the tips of their tongues. It wasn’t about shirts and it wasn’t about their old jobs. It was about what they wanted from life and how to create a company that breathes that passion into the world everyday. It was a reminder of what we live for. The result became known as the Holstee Manifesto.

I strongly encourage you to take the Holstee Manifesto at the top of the blog and make it the background of your desktop for your computer. If you would prefer a non-electronic version for your bedroom, college dorm, or your children’s bedroom, Holstee sells posters on its website.

In case you want to copy-paste the full text of the Holstee Manifesto, here it is:

“This is your life. Do what you love, and do it often. If you don’t like your job, quit. If you don’t have enough time, stop watching TV. If you are looking for the love of your life, stop; they will be waiting for you when you start doing things you love. Stop over analyzing, life is simple. All emotions are beautiful. When you eat, appreciate every last bite. Open your mind, arms, and heart to new things and people, we are united in our differences. Ask the next person you see what their passion is, and share your inspiring dream with them. Travel often; getting lost will help you find yourself. Some opportunities only come once, seize them. Life is about the people you meet, and the things you create with them so go out and start creating. Life is short. Live your dream and share your passion.”

Two years after the premier of the Holstee Manifesto in 2009, Holstee released a video called “The Holstee Manifesto: Lifecycle Video“, which features the manifesto, verbatim, as well as the lively streets of New York City on Holstee’s favorite mode of transportation — bicycle riding.

Prom themes can be creative, poorly thought-out, or non-existent. For the prom committee, picking out a theme can be stressful and tough. There are so many themes to choose from, and each class may attempt to outdo the theme of the previous class. With that in mind, here is a list of my ten favorite prom themes:

Masquerade – Masks veil the identity of your mystery date until after the prom court in announced.

Paris by Moonlight – This lovely romantic theme finally gives you a chance to speak French, if only for one night.

Project Runway – Dressing in the best clothing is the game, complete with a fashion show.

Casino Nights – Poker, Craps, or Roulette. You may even win a prize at the end of the night.

Shanghai Nights – You may be inspired to go on summer vacation to China with this theme.

Under the Sea – Remember the theme of the dance Marty’s parents attended in “Back to the Future”? This is that theme.

Hollywood theme – This is an easy theme to setup, especially here in Southern California.

New York, New York – The prom committee would face the daunting task of making the dance hall or banquet hall look like New York as much as possible.

“Decades” theme – Bring back the Roaring ‘20s or Disco ‘70s for a new generation.

These are some classic, creative and fun prom themes. You could even come up with your own original prom theme and go down in your school’s history for creating a magnificent prom. Prom night is a significant point in your high school memories. Just remember that the prom theme isn’t everything; what counts is what you make of your night.

On December 21, 1913, the Sunday New York World printed a puzzle called the “word-cross” created by Liverpudlian, Arthur Wynne. The puzzle became an immediate success, eventually becoming a weekly feature of World. Sometime later, the name changed to “cross-word” and later still, the hyphen was also dropped. These two changes effectively shaped the crossword puzzle into the modern version we are familiar with today. Until 1924, crossword puzzles were only being printed in the New York World paper, but then, publishing company Simon & Schuster published a collection of World’s puzzles in book form, renewing the crossword puzzle craze.

A collage of crossword puzzles from the Daily Telegraph with clues bearing codenames describing the operations and landing site of the secret Invasion of Normandy by the Allies during WWII.

I think of crossword puzzles as a fun, brain-teasing way to pass the time. Never did it cross my mind that, at one point, crosswords puzzles could have changed history. During World War II, the secrecy of the 1944 Invasion of Normandy(D-Day) was apparent by the use of codenames. The entire operation had the codename of “Overlord”; the naval operation was “Neptune”; the two beaches where the allies were to land were named as “Omaha” and “Utah”; and the artificial harbor that would be set up was code named “Mulberry”. By coincidence, between May and June 1944, the crossword puzzles in the British Daily Telegraph newspaper contained the codenames as some of the answers to the questions of the crossword puzzle. Eventually, all of the codenames were released and the creator of the puzzles, Leonard Dawe, headmaster at the Strand School in Surrey, England, was arrested on suspicion of conspiring with the Nazis. Years later in 1984, a Ronald French, allegedly one of Dawe’s pupils in 1944, gave his version of events. He claimed on BBC television that it was he who inserted the codenames into the crosswords. Apparently, Dawe used to allow his students to help write the puzzles. French had learned the codenames from US and Canadian soldiers while proclaiming Dawe’s innocence. This was all just one big coincidence!

On April 2, 2011, large groups of people gathered in cities and towns around the world to participate in one of the biggest pillow fights of the year. International Pillow Fight Day is a day where people come together in one, big pillow fight, at a predetermined time and place to form a social phenomenon known as flash mobbing. This event was promoted over social networking sites, text messages, blogs and personal websites. So far, the biggest pillow fight that took place on International Pillow Fight Day has been in New York City, where over 5,000 people participated.

Although swinging pillows at each other appears to be fun and games, there are instances in which flash mobbing has gone wrong. For example, in 2009 and 2010, there were a series of flash mob events in Philadelphia resulted in rioting, violence, personal injury, and the destruction of private property. As a result, the authorities had to get involved and arrests were made. Let’s remember that coming together as a group to have fun isn’t a bad thing but coming together to incite violence can lead to injury and destruction, so let’s stay safe and have a fun and peaceful time.

The Philippines has seen a steady increase in violence in karaoke bars across the country over the last few years over, of all things, peoples’ renditions of Frank Sinatra’s version of “My Way”. New York Times wondered if “the killings [are] the natural byproduct of the country’s culture of violence, drinking and machismo” or if the song contained “something inherently sinister”. Whatever the reason, many karaoke bars have taken drastic action and removed the song from the songbooks. Karaoke bar regulars, in turn, have shunned the song and refuse to sing it for fear of sparking new violence. Some songwriters have noted that the song’s lyrics imply arrogance almost never observed in the country’s social norms. Locals, however, point out that Filipinos take karaoke and singing very seriously and are quick to show their displeasure if a person is even slightly off-key. Read more…